Looking for help/advice for first investment property questions

[Justin C.]

Hi Everyone!

I’ve been doing a lot of reading both here on the forums as well as real estate investing books. As someone starting out with no actual experience, it’s a bit of information overload. Since I’ve been lurking for quite a while I figured it was finally time to make a post and see if you knowledgeable folks could share your wisdom and help me break down some of these ideas and concepts to figure out the best plan to move forward with.

Bit of background about me:

31 years old

Single (in a relationship but unmarried)

20k student loan debt, no other debt

70k savings (20k more in Roth IRA but probably wouldn't want to touch that since it's for retirement)

Stable full time office job - 70k/year

790 credit score

Located in the greater Boston area of MA

Currently renting and do not own any property

Now that you have a little bit of background, I was hoping I could get advice on the best way to get started with something. As you’re probably aware, housing prices are ridiculously crazy around here with low supply and high demand. Because of this Ive been looking in areas outside of the city like Framingham, Billerica, Norwood, Dedham, Stoneham, Tewksbury, etc. My struggle so far is that any good deal that comes up is grabbed super quickly by cash buyers or someone offering way over asking price.

I'm quite interested in the BRRR method, but I'm open to any ideas where I can use RE to build equity/passive cash flow. Ideally, I'd love to find a 3+ bed 2 bath SFH that needs work but not a complete gut, live in it for a year while I fix it up, then refinance and start renting it out. The downside seems to be the lack of options. Anything I can afford is going to be super far outside the city and much more rural which I imagine would be hard to rent out, and would also probably need a complete rehab on top of the already high sale price. Plus I'd have to commute from there. One idea I've been toying with is a condo/townhouse. I know they don't have the best reputation, but there's a lot of them around those towns I mentioned and many seem to be in my price range (under 350k). I've found quite a few with fairly low condo fees which include exterior maintenance which is a plus. Cash flow probably wouldn't be much at first but over time as rent increases and mortgage stays consistent it'll slowly get better

Another idea I had was buying something out of state. It’s crazy how much cheaper real estate is in other cities further south and I feel like I could possibly get a multi family somewhere else that’s in decent shape. Is this even realistic to look into as a first time buyer? Can you get loans for this?

Again, SFH would be most ideal, but given the location and following the market has me very discouraged and feeling like that's probably out of the picture.

Another thought. A buddy of mine who flips houses down in Florida is looking to expand his business up here after having success with a property that kind of fell into his lap a few months ago. I was thinking of quitting my miserable job to do that with him full time but have reservations about actually being able to find enough properties to flip here that would provide me enough income to live off of. With that project we’d have a bigger budget of around 450k to work with. I guess my question is how do people find deals/properties consistently around here?

I know this has been a long ranting read, so if you've made it this far I appreciate it. Let me know your thoughts! What would you do if you were in my shoes? Should I avoid townhouses/condos, or keep looking into them? Only go for SFH? Buy out of state?

[Joe P.]

What I would do, if I was in your shoes...is come up with a GOAL. You have no goal stated. You want to be in RE. But that's not a goal.

A goal should be SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-bound). My RE goal right now is to have 10 doors by 2030; acquiring approximately 1 door per year with CF of at least $100 in a BRRRR setting and between $200-$300 in conventional purchase. This means by 2030, I should have 10 doors total, cash flow of at least $1000 per month across 10 doors. I also believe in local investing and having my eyes on the property, so I want to be within 25 miles of Philadelphia or less.

Now that I have my goal in place -- I can focus on acquisition and avenues. My finances are in order to allow me to do achieve this.

Once you do this -- everything will fall into place. You'll need to see how you can obtain money for investments, if you have enough cash on hand/reserves to do so, if you have the time to do so, etc.

Specifically as it relates to your finance information, credit score is good. Don't touch your IRA - in fact continue to direct funds there if you can. Save, save, save. Continue to pay down your debts diligently and on-time.

Also, whats your monthly rent? Boston rents are sky high -- anything you can do to reduce your expenses (your living expense is your greatest expense right now, probably) go do it. Move back home, house hack may be an option with your available cash as well.